Hidden beneath layers of mammoth melodies and striking vocal harmonies delivered in a way that only singer Lori P. Davis can, there lies a beacon of hope in the decadently designed dirge that is “Bad Boy.” This latest single and music video from the Lori P. Davis Project is becoming a critics’ favorite this year, and after spending a little time with the track this past week, I came to understand why. The music video blends surreal, mind-bending eccentricities with straightforward showmanship, stopping just shy of Americana whilst getting as bucolic as a pop video can. The song itself makes all of the strange experimental components within the visuals a little less abrasive, and by the time it’s all over, we’re afforded a closer look at the artistry and aesthetical foundations of who Davis is. It’s a very involved piece, but I think that if discriminating indie music fans were to skip it this spring, they would be missing one of the most important releases yet in this singer/songwriter’s growing discography.
“Bad Boy” has an incredibly multilayered master mix, but it’s not overly complicated or littered with unnecessary bombast at all. Davis is the type of singer that sounds best when her vocal isn’t being weighed down with a lot of external bells and whistles, and even in the moments where she’s getting experimental with the heavier melodic parts in this track, she avoids the excesses that have become synonymous with a lot of her pop peers in the last half-decade. She’s got a ton of confidence when she assaults the verse in the chorus, and it doesn’t slow down as she works back into the main groove of the song.
I’ve been following Davis for a little while now, and I think that there’s not much room for debate as to whether or not she’s developed her skillset in the studio immensely this season. She never sounds out of sync, unrehearsed, or unprepared for the ebb and flow of the pulsating percussion in the background; on the contrary, she’s got an answer for every implied question here, and her streamlined style of attack is something that her rivals could learn a lot from.
Self-aware, lyrically unfiltered, and sonically multidimensional, listeners simply can’t go wrong with Lori P. Davis’ “Bad Boy,” which has been racking up a lot of plays online and attracting a new wave of fans to this singer’s body of work. There’s so much more to this song than its potent swing and the vibrant vocal that holds all of its parts together so elegantly, and yet it’s still a simple slow jam that doesn’t demand a lot out of us in exchange for the wealth of magic that it yields every time we give it a spin. “Bad Boy” has roused my interest in Davis, and if you weren’t already fascinated with her sound before now, I think you’re going to be singing a different tune after allowing this awesome single and music video to hypnotize you with its unwavering harmonies.
